“I’m a senior animator in the VFX industry…some films I’ve worked on are Star Wars and The Avengers. Vancouver is kind of a main hub for what we do, so a lot of movies and TV shows are made here.

“I’ve lived in London, Sydney, Montreal, and then out here. I grew up the most as an artist in London. I got to do and achieve a lot of things that not too many animators get to do, like come up with ideas for a movie, go on set, and watch the movie be filmed. That movie is Solo. I’m the digital double for Han Solo. There’s a shot in the movie where Han Solo is hanging off the side of the train…that’s me.

“I thought it was a normal thing for kids to do–to live in multiple countries. It’s made me very culturally aware. That may be customs or family things, maybe even beliefs and stuff like that. Especially with what I do, I’m trying to make entertainment for everybody–or at least I try to. Entertainment also means that you understand what makes things funny for people, or what button to press to make people sad. That is in the pursuit of really good storytelling. Meeting people and understanding their stories is really interesting. If I understand someone’s story, and there’s truth to that, then I can make a movie out of that, or tell a story.

“I encourage everybody to travel. I think the world would be a better place if people got to travel and learn about other peoples’ cultures. That way, you become more sensitive to people, or at least, you have more of an understanding of where people are coming from.

“Can you tell us about a challenge you face while working in this industry?”

“Probably having a work-life balance. You can be really passionate about what you do, but then you forget to eat, you forget to sleep, you don’t really have much of a social life–so it’s maintaining balance. For me, I think that’s the one thing I really had to learn, which is why I’m out here right now.”

Animator Jay Roxas’ work can be found on his website, linked here.